March 22, 2013 | The Miami Student

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The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826

FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2013

VOLUME 140 NO. 45

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1994, The Miami Student reported a story on junior Tom Schrock who was chosen to travel across the globe to be reunited with his old, international

girlfriend Laura van der Lecq on the Dutch game show, “All You Need is Love.” Sitting backstage, unable to understand the language being spoken around him, Schrock said he thought to himself, “What in the world am I doing here?”

Miami Pro Day showcases NFL prospects BY TOM DOWNEY SPORTS EDITOR

With scouts from over half of the teams in the NFL watching, quarterback Zac Dysert and several other NFL hopefuls attempted to put on a show. It is a safe assumption that the scouts were at Yager Stadium on a cold and windy day to see Dysert. He will likely be the first quarterback

from Miami University to be drafted since Ben Roethlisberger. Dysert did not get a chance to workout at the NFL Combine because of a slight hamstring tear he suffered in training, making his Pro Day workout even more important. There were a few times Dysert had a pass sail high on him and his receivers dropped several catchable balls.

Dysert only threw at the Pro Day, as he is still recovering from the hamstring tear. Cincinnati Bengals scout Brayden Coombs said Dysert showed why NFL teams are looking to draft him. “He showed a lot of the same things that he has shown that has him in the position he is in right now,” Coombs said. “He’s got a strong arm and is accurate

BEN TALYOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

NFL scouts time former Miami University wide receiver Andy Cruse as he does a 40-yard dash. Cruse said he likely will not be drafted, but is hoping to be signed to NFL training camp after the draft.

for the most part. He was a little inconsistent today; had a few get away from him, but in general he showed the same things that we’ve seen and that teams know about him.” Dysert said he does not know where he will be drafted and is trying to not think about it. “It is all in God’s hands pretty much,” Dysert said. “I can’t really control that, so I try not to worry about it. I used to think about it all the time, but it started driving me insane.” Coombs is a former Miami player and said he has a general idea of where Dysert will end up going, but it is tough to tell. “It is so tough to say with just the way this year is with quarterbacks,” Coombs said. “A team could fall in love with him and take him in the second round or he could go in the fifth round or somewhere in between. I like Zac a lot personally; I’ve known him for five years. I think I’m biased and have a tendency to put him a little bit higher. It takes one [team]. He should be optimistic for a second round and worst-case a fifth round and most likely it will be somewhere in-between.” Dysert said he had formal interviews with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets at the Combine. He also said he was going to have a private workout with the Philadelphia Eagles. Dysert has been training with former Florida State University and Carolina Panther

quarterback Chris Weinke since the RedHawks’ season ended. Weinke won a Heisman Trophy at Florida State and is now the director of the IMG Football Academy. “I think what he showed today was that he didn’t let [the weather] bother him,” Weinke said. “He showed that he is a good athlete, can make all the throws they are going to ask him to make at the NFL level and carried himself like he always does, like a true pro.” Other former Miami players who were participating in the Pro Day were wide receivers Andy Cruse and Luke Swift, defensive back DJ Brown, linebacker Evan Harris, safety Pat Hinkel, defensive end Jason Semmes and linebacker Luke Kelly. Kelly mostly played defensive end during his senior year, but has a better shot of making the NFL as a linebacker given his lack of size. Brown had an impressive 40-yard dash time, as he was unoffically clocked in the 4.4 second range. Cruse, who will be attending the Bengals local workout out, said he was happy with his numbers. He was told he ran a 4.52 40-yard dash in his second attempt and had a 34-inch vertical. “I think there are other guys here who will get brought into training camp,” Coombs said. “I don’t know if there are any, other than Zac, who will get drafted. Cruse would definitely be a guy who will be in a training camp somewhere.”

Miami professor researches the illegality of unpaid internships BY REBECCA PEETS STAFF WRITER

The findings of one Miami Universty English professor may be startling to students considering internships. According to research conducted by English professor Katherine Durack, there is a problem with many unpaid internships that students are often unaware of—they are illegal. In February, over 200 companies attended Miami’s Spring Internship and Career Expo (ICE), an event held each year for students looking for jobs and internships. According to Miami marketing professor David Rosenthal, the number of companies at Spring ICE has increased over the years as the number of students looking for internships has. Durack said she believes this is due to an increasing amount of pressure being put on students. “I think that the expectation of students now is that in order to have a competitive advantage in the job market they need an internship or two or three,” Rosenthal said. Junior Kirsten Melling agreed. “The concept of an internship has become more the norm rather than the exception,” Melling said. Durack began her research in the spring of 2012 when a local nonprofit called The Requiem Project asked her to assist with internships. Through this, she began to investigate the paid and unpaid internships for companies, and found information that concerned her. “The landscape has changed since the recession,” Durack said. “Student debt has been rising and at the same time more companies are offering unpaid internships.” According to Durack, the number of households with student debt is now one in five. She also found the average amount owed has

increased by $3,333, the average salary of one paid internship, according to Durack. Junior Jessica Howard said she found even more financial issues through her unpaid internship in the television industry. “The amount the university charges for internship credit is pretty steep,” Howard said. “I think paying the university for these experiences is more unfair than not being paid for the job.” However, Howard said she believes her internship will absolutely lead to a job offer within that field or company. Durack said she wants students to know this information because, according to her, many students are unaware. Melling is one of those students. “That surprises me,” Melling said. “Especially since I’ve heard of so many people taking unpaid internships.” The department of labor policy is outdated and not well regulated, according to Durack, but there are issues for students taking unpaid “illegal” internships. According to Rosenthal, unpaid interns are left unprotected by workplace laws, including harassment. “The courts have used pay as the determining factor for eligibility for recourse under the law,” Rosenthal said. “Interns are particularly vulnerable to questionable practices.” Although they are illegal, the repercussions for companies offering illegal unpaid internships are unclear. “As far as I know, nothing [happens] unless a student files a complaint,” Durack said. “This is where the enforcement by the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division would play a role, but from what I’ve read, enforcement is lax.” The loose regulation of the law

causes a growth in the number of unpaid internships, and may even have the ability to displace paid internships, according to Durack. Internships in communications and the arts are more likely to be unpaid, Durack said, as well as government and small nonprofit organizations. However, Rosenthal said she recognizes some instances where unpaid internships are appropriate. “A nonprofit organization is definitely going to be stretched for resources,” Rosenthal said. “Allowing someone to donate their time is perfectly okay. Fundamentally, it comes down to my belief that people should be rewarded for their hard work. That reward is typically called compensation. If you are volunteering in a nonprofit your reward is the feeling you have done good in the world.” Senior Kylie Kochert said he had an unpaid internship summer of 2012 with a nonprofit organization, and said he has mixed feelings about the concept of unpaid internships. “This summer I didn’t really mind that I was not paid,” Kochert said. “I only worked part-time in the afternoon and had a paying job in the morning. I think the fact that I was being paid elsewhere was good and I viewed my unpaid internship as a great way to gain experiences in a field I am very interested in. However, if I did not have another paying job, I probably would have had more of a desire to be paid for my internship.” Kochert said he believes unpaid internships benefit both the intern and the company, because the intern gets workplace experience and the company receives help that does not need to be compensated. Unlike Kochert, Rosenthal said she does not recognize the morality of unpaid internships in for-profit institutions. “There is no reason for a

government job not to pay you,” Rosenthal said. “They are paying their officials and covering costs, so I see no excuse to enslave their constituents.” According to her research, Durack has found in addition to financial issues, unpaid internships statistically do not measure up to paid ones. “According to a survey of 2012 graduates, paid interns tend to get

more real world experience than unpaid interns,” Durack said. “Unpaid interns tend to do more clerical work.” Durack found 63 percent of paid interns receive a job offer upon graduation, compared to 41 percent of unpaid interns. This shows very little difference from the 40 percent

INTERNSHIPS, SEE PAGE 8

BEN TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

JUST A BIT OUTSIDE

Miami University sophomore pitcher Brian Thene fires a pitch in Miami’s home opener against Indiana University. The Hoosiers swept the RedHawks in their two game series.


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